


A wish your heart makes

by Rebekah_Zellers



Category: NCIS
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Kid Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21814594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rebekah_Zellers/pseuds/Rebekah_Zellers
Summary: Kid Tony Fic..   Three wishes for Christmas result in Tony turning into a toddler  ... the rest ... time will tell.. so will the story.
Comments: 33
Kudos: 71





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have missed all of you so much. Life threw me lemons, I made lemonade. It's been a long few months, but I think things are turning around. Thank you to all that offered your love & support over the death of my dog. She was my baby for 12 years, I still miss her so much. However, I have a new baby ... totally different than what my little angel was... I love her, she's spoiled rotten and has soothed a world of hurts these last nine months.

The holidays were upon him, leaving him feeling lost. Every year, he wished for a sense of family. He wanted those days of putting toys together after Kelly was in bed back. He longed to be a father again, he needed to fulfill that part of him that craved the feeling of little arms around his neck.

He never loved a woman like he loved Shannon and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to, ever again. Every woman since her death had been about fulfilling that carnal desire for sex, she was the only woman that he had made love to.

Pedro Hernandez had destroyed his happiness; he had left a hole in him so vast that he found it hard to put one foot in front of the other some days. Here we are again, wash, rinse and repeat. The holidays were here once again and … he was alone.

“Wish, just one year, it could be different.” Gibbs sighed as he hoisted himself from bed. 

Flipping on the coffee pot, he went into the downstairs bathroom to take a shower. Feeling a little more awake, he wrapped his hands around a cup of coffee as he sat dwelling on his past. *RING*

“Yeah, Gibbs.” Jethro answered his phone, a bit distracted. “Got it, Tony. Call in the team, I’ll meet you at the scene in 20 minutes.”

The day was a whirl, the case wrapped rather quickly with Tony’s keen eye and McGee’s cyber skills breaking it wide open by lunch time. Glancing at the clock, Gibbs sighed at the thought of going home alone. With the need to clear the overtime off the books, his team was not scheduled back until after the new year.

“Ok,” Gibbs cleared his throat. “Unless there is an emergency, we are off the clock until January 2nd. SecNav’s direct orders due to all the time we have on the books. Have a good holiday and don’t get in trouble.”

Tony cringed as Gibbs eyes settled on him, he was not in the right frame of mind to take on the boss. With his eyes glued to the floor, the Senior Field Agent picked up his gear and exited silently, leaving Gibbs feeling as if the bottom was about to fall out of his world.

“Merry Christmas, Gibbs.” Tony mumbled as he left. In the elevator, he allowed himself to relax slightly. “Wish for once, it was a Merry Christmas for me.”

“Is Tony ok?” Jack questioned as she walked into the middle of the bullpen. “He doesn’t seem like himself.”

“Think I hurt his feelings,” Gibbs sighed. “Sometimes, he takes my jokes too seriously.”

“Sometimes, your jokes are only joking in your head, after the fact.” Jack retorted. “You need to fix it before you ruin his Christmas.”

Gibbs stood outside of Tony’s apartment door, a million ways to apologize running through his head. Ok, maybe not a million because he really didn’t understand why Tony took it so seriously. Knocking on the door, Gibbs waited and waited… nothing.

The sound of a crash set Gibbs in motion to find his key and enter the apartment. Looking around, he could find nothing out of place until he got to the kitchen. 

“Hi Boss,” Tony sighed from his place on the floor. “I got little, but I really don’t know how.”

“I see that,” Gibbs managed to spit out as he looked down at a toddler sized Tony. “What were you doing?”

“Trying to get some milk,” Tony pointed to the cabinet. “Foot slipped on the counter.”

“You fell from up there?” Gibbs gasped as he moved to pick up the little boy, his heart breaking when Tony flinched. “I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to make sure you are ok.”

“My ass hurts,” Tony sighed as he put his arms out to be picked up, startling when he realized what he did. “Sorry, Gibbs. If you could just help me up.”

“Were you all the way up here when you fell?” Gibbs asked as he placed Tony on his hip and grabbed a glass. “Don’t move around.” Placing Tony on the counter, he got the milk and found a straw. “Here drink this, we should call Palmer. I don’t know if we can trust anyone else with the new you.”

“Better call Vance,” Tony sighed. “Don’t want to get fired because he thinks I vanished from the planet. This can’t be permanent, right? I must have been exposed to something at that crime scene.”

“Something that made you regress physically by forty-nine years?” Gibbs sighed. “Let’s call Jimmy, we’ll find you something to eat after we do that.”

“Agent Gibbs,” Palmer chirped. “Merry Christmas.”

“Palmer, I need you at Tony’s place. He seems to have turned into a two-year-old.” Gibbs knew it sounded stupid as soon as it left his mouth. “I’m not joking, Palmer.”

“On my way,” Palmer looked around in disbelief. “Could my wish for Tony to have a proper Christmas have resulted in this?”

Grabbing a couple pair of jeans and a couple sweaters from the boxes in the garage, Palmer made his way to his car, his mind whirling. Once he made it to Tony’s, he took a few deep breaths before exiting the car.

“Thanks for coming, Palmer.” Gibbs sighed as he made his way back into the living room. “He says he feels fine, he’s just little.”

Checking him over carefully, Palmer was satisfied that his friend was healthy. “He’s in perfect health,” Palmer paused. “His lungs even sound normal. I have no explanation for this, Agent Gibbs. I’d like to take some blood, get Kasey to run it for us. Other than that, I am clueless. We may have to call in a specialist.”

“What kind?” Tony looked up at Palmer. “A honey I shrunk the kid, doctor?”

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs snapped. 

“Sorry,” Tony sighed as he slid off the sofa, his t-shirt barely staying on as he tried to make his way down the hallway to the bedroom.

“Agent Gibbs,” Palmer pushed up his glasses. “This is going to sound strange, but I made a wish for Tony to have a real Christmas for a change, I wanted him to experience some Christmas magic. Could that have done this?”

“I wished for a Merry Christmas,” Tony’s voice called softly from behind the chair. 

“I wished to not be alone,” Gibbs mumbled. “This is crazy, it doesn’t work like that does it?”

“I don’t know,” Palmer went to his bag. “I grabbed some jeans and sweaters that don’t look like girls from the boxes of Victoria’s old clothes. We need to get you some stuff.”

“Underwear would be nice,” Tony wiggled his tushy. “It’s kind of drafty back there.”

“We should call Jack,” Palmer looked around. “Maybe take him to my house, it’s kid friendly.”

“No!” Tony yelled. “Can we go to your house?” Making his way over to Gibbs, Tony put his arms out to be picked up. “It makes me feel safe.”

“We can,” Gibbs sighed. “Let’s call Jack while Palmer goes and gets you some underwear.”

“I will be back as fast as I can, you should explain to Jack what happened on the phone, don’t let her be surprised by this.” Palmer hurried out the door with sizes in mind for his pint-sized friend.

“Gibbs,” Tony snuggled his head into Jethro’s neck. “Don’t leave me here, I’m scared.”

“I would never leave you,” Gibbs whispered as he walked around the apartment as he rubbed Tony’s back. “We need to call Jack.”

“I miss your dad,” Tony whimpered. “That was the best Jack in the whole wide world. His face always got bright when I went to visit.”

“You would visit my dad?” Gibbs was stunned. “Tony, when did you go see my dad?”

“My birthday, his birthday, Halloween.” Yawning, Tony put his hand inside Jethro’s suit jacket, so it touched his heart’s beat. “He had the best trick or treaters and we dressed up.”

Dialing Jack’s number, Gibbs slowly explained to her what he had found and their theory. While she didn’t dispel the idea of a Christmas wish, she found it rather hard to believe. Upon her arrival, she noted a small version of Tony sleeping with his head in her friend’s neck.

“He’s so cute,” Jack whispered. “I don’t know what to make of this, Gibbs. I guess Palmer’s idea is plausible, in some very strange and far fetched manner.” Rubbing the little boy’s back, Jack sighed. “What are you going to do?

“Take him home with me,” Gibbs looked around the apartment. “Got to take his fish with us, all his animated movies. He got me a DVD player when I had my heart and knee surgery. Those movies of his kept me from going stir crazy.”

“Glad you liked them,” Tony whispered. “You just grumbled about them, I thought you hated them.”

“I’m sorry,” Gibbs kissed Tony’s forehead, his heart racing at his paternal instincts kicking in. “You’re a great friend, Tony.”

“My son, Tony.” The little boy repeated, “I miss that, I miss when it was like that.”

“Me too.” Putting the fish food in his pocket, he looked around for something to guarantee safe travels for his little guy’s pets. “Tony, how do you get your fish to my place when you stay to take care of me?”

“Bowl under the bathroom sink,” Tony looked up to see Jack looking at his movies. “Jack! I can show you the best ones!” Wiggling down, the little boy was very thankful to not be tripping over his clothes, even if it meant wearing girl’s clothes.

“Do you want to take these?” Jack pointed to the pile on the table. 

“Yes! I was going to go buy Abdom,,” Tony sighed and tried again. “The abdominal, no that’s not right.”

“Do you mean Abominable?” Jack watched as Tony’s face lit up. “I want to see that movie so much!”

“Me too!” Tony danced. “It came out the other day, but we were working. I was going to get it this weekend and have a hot date with some Yeti.”

“How about, I go get it and we have a movie night!” Jack watched as Tony did his happy dance, clearly his actual age was no longer playing into his responses or emotions. “Do you have a favorite blanket or anything you want to take?”

“I’ll show you.” Tony pulled on Jack’s hand until they were in his bedroom. “I want to take that blanket, my friend Ernie gave it to me , that picture and that bear in my closet.”

“Where did the bear come from?” Jack handed it down for the little boy to hug. 

“It came from Jackson Gibbs,” Tony giggled. “He told me to hug it when the cases were bad and the dreams were worse, it worked. I think he put love in there somewhere.” Poking at the belly of the bear, Tony shrugged. “I can smell it, I just can’t find where it’s at!”

“You can’t look for it, silly! You’ll ruin the magic part!” Jack gathered Tony’s things and watched to see if he was going grab his bear and follow her.

“Gibbs,” Tony toddled into the living room. “This bear has magic in it!”

“It does?” Gibbs was rather amused by the current state of mind of his agent. “How did it get in there?”

“Jackson Gibbs putted it in there,” Tony poked at the bear’s head. “It smells like magic right there. Sniff it!”

“I smell it,” Gibbs’s face lit up and his eyes danced putting Tony at total ease. “That is one very special bear! How long have you had it?”

“Ummmm,” Tony sat down and hugged the bear tight. “When we got back from seeing Ziva’s father and I was hurt. Jackson gave it to me because I went to his house to see him. I was so sad.”

“Gibbs,” Palmer made his way into the apartment. “I have underwear, a coat, shoes, a hat and gloves.”

“Perfect,” Jack made her way to take the bags. “Let’s get the tags off, get this handsome fella dressed and go shopping!”

“YAY!” Tony grabbed his bear and started hopping up and down. “Let’s get Yeti!”

“We will!” Jack exclaimed while clapping. “We will have a movie party!”

“Gibbs! We need snacks!” Tony peeled off towards the kitchen. “Up there is popcorn and over there are my good cookies.”

“I see that,” Gibbs started loading the groceries into bags he found alongside the fridge. “I’m going to bring your juice, milk and eggs with us too. Oh, we can take your cereal.”

“My oats!” Tony started to climb the cupboards. “They is all the way over there I like the pumpkin spice and gingerbread ones.”

“Got ‘em,” Gibbs grabbed them from the cupboard, taking note of their boxes. “Now, get down so you don’t get hurt. Go see Jack, she can get you ready to go.”

“Jack,” Tony ran to his friend. “I’m here. We have to wash the undies before I get them on me so I don’t get a rash.”

“New clothes give you a rash, little dude?” Jack took note, she needed to get some Dreft to wash his things in. “We’ll wash everything right up for you. Let’s get going.”

“I’ll put him in Victoria’s car seat,” Palmer pointed to his car in the parking lot. “It’s so cold out here, I think the best place for him is in the car until we are all ready. I have a spare seat at my house, you can take this one.”

Jack seemed to come alive in the store with Tony. She pushed the cart with the child up and down the aisles and before Gibbs knew it they had toys, books, clothes, bath items. Everything they needed to keep their little man happy.

“We need Christmas presents,” Gibbs whispered to Palmer. “Think you can help me while they shop?”

“I would love that,” Palmer and Gibbs slipped off, raiding the store of anything they could find that would give a child Tony’s age a great Christmas. “If he goes back to normal, what do we do with all this stuff?”

“Donate it,” Gibbs commented. “Let him keep what he wants, donate the rest.”

“You’re giving him the Christmas that he never had,” Palmer smiled. “If it snows, I have a spare sled that you can borrow to pull him around on. I can give you tips on all the good spots, that are secluded too.”

With their shopping carts filled with presents and wrapping paper, Gibbs and Palmer checked out and loaded his truck. Making their way back inside, they found Jack who was delightfully engaged in the task of finding slippers that Tony liked. 

“None of these?” Jack pouted. “I thought the pink unicorns were adorable.

“Get a grip on yourself,” Tony held Jack’s hand. “Boys do not wear pink, that’s for girls.”

“Those!” Tony pointed to a pair of red claw slippers. “No wait! Never mind.”

“Would you rather have Mickey?” Jack watched as Tony struggle with the decision. “I’ll tell you what, let’s get both! You can wear one of each if you want. It will totally confuse Gibbs.”

“Think he will be mad?” Tony held his slippers close to his chest. “I don’t want him to send me away.”

“Hey,” Jack pushed the cart to a nearby bench at a fitting area and sat down. “Listen to me, he’s never going to leave you or send you away. You mean a lot to him and don’t forget this is part of his very own wish.”

“Oh yeah,” Tony giggled. “Think we can get a different hat? I’m not too crazy about this pom pom on my head.”

“Want one with cool ear flaps? I love them, they keep my ears toasty warm!” Jack grabbed a hat off the rack and tried it on her cutie. “I love it!”

“Me too!” Tony wiggled with pure joy. “Jack, I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” sighing, the lady doc made her way towards the food aisles. “What should we get?”

“Pudding, ice cream, yogurt, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, mac & cheese.” Tony started mumbling food. “I never got to eat that when I was a kid the first time.”

“Then we get it now,” Gibbs whizzed by the duo with his empty cart. “You want some spaghetti too?”

“Yes! Noodles are slippery fun!” Tony giggled. “Um, we better get some trash bags to make me a bib.”

“I got you covered,” Jack winked. “Literally.”

“This is going to be the best Christmas ever!” Tony exclaimed as he watched Gibbs add candy canes, holiday colored M&Ms and lots of cookie dough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> I hope you had a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a very fun & safe New Years! Mine was fun! Christmas was green, but New Years was white LOL I think someone got something a little backwards. Living close to the great lakes, I have learned you never know what you are going to get... just deal with it. 
> 
> May 2020 bring amazing memories, joy and love for all of you ! May it bring more inspiration for me, because I do enjoy writing. I am thinking about renaming my puppy Little DiNozzo because tonight, she's resting from a concussion... Yeah, I know WTH -She loves to play ball and she came running with it and didn't stop before she cracked her head hard on the leg of a chair. I know someone is thinking ... leg of the chair, really? Yep! She's 6 pounds so that is totally possible. <3 she'll be even more spoiled by the time she's 100% back to her silly self.
> 
> Ok... on with the story... Please, please - take flu precautions! A teenager died in my state this week from the flu... she battled it hard for a couple weeks and ended up having a stroke and dying as a result. You are way too precious for that to happen!
> 
> I will try to do longer chapters going forward, I wanted to give you something before you thought I vanished again. <3

Chapter Question: What Christmas presents do you think little Tony should get? 

The arrival at Jethro’s house brought the first set of challenges. The three adult set out to unload Jethro’s truck and Jack’s car, everyone momentarily forgetting about Tony’s current state.

“Where’s DiNozzo?” Gibbs grunted with a sigh.

“Oh no,” Jack ran for Palmer’s car, panicking to find the back door open and no Tony. “Tony? I’m so sorry, sweet boy. Where are you?”

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs shouted as he frantically looked around. 

“He’s over here,” Palmer pointed under the porch swing. “Has a goose egg, he must have tried to get up there.”

“Hi Jimmy,” Tony put his arms out to be picked up. “I got out of the wind.”

“I see that,” Palmer picked up his friend and snuggled him close. “How’d you hit your head?”

“I was standing over there and the wind wooshed and the swing moved and hitted me right on the head.”

“Let’s go inside,” Palmer carried his little friend into the house. “Feel like you have a concussion?”

“Nope,” Tony wiggled to get down, the Christmas tree drawing his attention immediately. Crawling under the tree, Tony flipped over on his back and watched the lights twinkle.

“Tony? What are you doing?” Jack questioned but got no answer. 

“Gibbs,” Tony called out. “Come here!”

Shrugging, Gibbs got down on the floor and wiggled under the tree with Tony. “What are we doing?”

“Looking at our Christmas angels,” Tony pointed to the lights. “All those sparkles are angels. That’s Kelly, Shannon, Mama, Paula, Jenny, Dorney. They are the most beautiful angels in the whole galaxy.”

“They are,” Gibbs chocked out. “Are you hungry, buddy? We could cook the hot dogs in the fireplace.”

“Cowboy hot dogs? COOL!”

“You want to help me get it ready?” Gibbs watched as Tony wiggled out from under the tree and started to climb the steps. 

“Whoa,” Palmer picked up the little boy. “You are too little for steps.”

“I have to use the head!” Tony pointed towards the stop of the steps. “NOW!”  
Gibbs chortled in amusement. Working around the kitchen, he got everything ready for dinner. “What else should we have besides hot dogs?”

“I could run down to the diner, get some fries and pie.” Jack offered. “I’ll be right back.”

“We need to get a seat, they have them that fit over the toilet so little tushies like Tony’s do not fall in that cold water!” Palmer teased, amused when Tony buried his face in his hands totally embarrassed.

“Jack went to get french fries and pie!” Gibbs tried to get Tony to look up at him. “Hey buddy, do you want to help me?”

“No,” Tony mumbled as he wiggled down and ran to the Christmas tree. “Can we call Ducky?”

“We can,” Palmer sighed. “Dr. Mallard always seems to have some words of wisdom for Tony when he’s feeling stressed and overwhelmed. “This may come as a shock to him, I think maybe I will just go to his house and explain it to him. We’ll be back very soon, my friend. Maybe there is a Christmas show on TV?”

“Tony? Feel like a man to man talk?” Gibbs was worried about his friend, he wanted to make sure that his holiday was the best he had ever had. This was Tony’s wish, a Christmas like he never had while he was a child the first time. “I know things are different right now, they are big, and Palmer is weird.”

“He hurted my feelings,” Tony whispered. “He didn’t need to make a big deal of the bathroom. My tushy? Gibbs, I can’t do this.”

“I know it’s hard, but I think that we don’t really have a choice. I will have a chat with Jimmy, tell him he needs to stop the baby talk with you. We’ll do everything we have to do to make things great for you. I want to do this for you, DiNozzo.” Gibbs watched as Tony stood up and toddled over to him. Picking up his friend, he snuggled him close. “This year, Christmas is going to be great for both of us. I know this his hard, but I am very glad I get to do this with you.”

“You are?” Tony blinked hard as he looked at Gibbs. “Really?”

“Really,” Gibbs winked. “Now let’s get these hot dogs cooking, we need to get some food in that belly.”

“Can we call Fornell?” Tony giggled. 

“Why?” Gibbs was trying to keep his face neutral.

“I want to mess with his head,” Tony started to laugh. “Can you imagine it? Gibbs, why does that kid sound like DiNutso?” 

“You’re not worried that Santa might think that is naughty?” Gibbs laughed.

“No,” Tony grabbed his tummy in laughter. “Even Santa has issues with Fornell!”

“You have a point, kid.” Gibbs laughed. “What should we do for fun? Want to watch your movie?”

“No,” Tony shook his head. “I want to make s’mores in the fireplace and pick out presents for everyone! I have to go shopping, I need Christmas!”

“We can do all that,” Gibbs sighed. “Buddy, we can’t use your credit card while you are so little.”

“Yes, we can!” Tony wiggled. “You can sign for it, I put your name on my account as a user. I thought if I got shot and needed stuff you could use my credit card to get it.”

“Do you want ketchup on your hot dog?” Gibbs needed to change the subject, the idea of Tony getting shot was too much to handle right now. “Mustard?”

“Peanut butter!” Tony cracked up laughing, giving away instantly that he was joking. “I need fench fies.” 

“I’m here,” Jack announced as she hurried in the door. “I couldn’t decide so I got 2 pies and 2 cakes.”

“She’s a keeper,” Tony winked at Gibbs. “Ducky!” Tony ran to his friend when he saw him come through the door.

“Look at you!” Ducky swooped up the little boy and kissed his cheek. “I dare say, you are the most adorable little fella that I have ever laid my eyes on. Jimmy says that you needed me.”

“I do,” Tony leaned in for a hug. “I just needed to see you; my heart was missing you.”

“He’s talking more and more like a child,” Jack commented as he watched Tony with Ducky. “I think that is a good thing, he needs to get lost in this and have fun.”

“I am so glad,” Ducky chimed. “I was missing you; I was lonely at my condo. It might be smaller, but it’s still so lonely. I was worried when you did call to make plans for dinner.”

“I couldn’t reach the phone, a glass, or the milk!” Tony sighed. “I was so thirsty, and I was so little! Gibbs comed to my apartment and he gotted the cup and milk. I falled down trying to climb the counter.”

“Are you hurt?” Ducky hurried to the closest chair so he could sit with the little boy in his lap. “I don’t see an obvious sign of trauma. You do have to be more careful, little one.”

“Ducky!” Tony tried to wiggle down. “You want to see my slippers? They are the best, Jack picked them out for me. She gotted me two pairs, my heart couldn’t make a cision (Decision).”

“I would love to see them,” Ducky laughed. “Are you new clothes in the washing machine? Do they know you have very sensitive skin?”

“Just put them in,” Palmer called. “We had to take the tags off, he has some awesome purchases. We’ll get your undies on that cute little…”

“Mr. Palmer!” Ducky snapped. “Show some sensitivity!”

“Thanks, Ducky!” Tony collapsed into his friend. “Somethings are just privacies.”

“That they are,” looking around the living room, Ducky sighed. “Mr. Palmer, I need a ride to that big Bull’s Eye store we passed on the way here.”

“Target?” Palmer looked momentarily confused. “Sure thing, Doctor.”

In the car, Ducky pulled out a notepad and started jotting down some notes. “I hope you know what was already purchased for the lad. He’s going to need some toys to survive until Kris Kringle appears and gives him his dream Christmas.”

“So, we’re not going Christmas shopping?” Palmer sighed. 

“I shall do that tomorrow,” Ducky smirked. “This trip is about putting a childhood in that house.

Tony was using an app on this phone to shop for presents when Ducky and Jimmy returned. He was so focused on not forgetting anyone that he did not even hear them until the siren on the police car caught his attention.

“I wanted one of those for forever!” Tony yelled as he slid off the sofa onto the floor. “Whoa! Toys!” Ducky’s heart soared as Tony touched everything, hugged his plush kitten twice before putting it in a chair to be safe. “Thank you, Ducky!”

“You are welcome,” Ducky cleared his throat. “This certainly is going to be a Christmas to remember. Maybe the best Christmas in fifty or more years.”

“It’s snowing!” Tony yelled as he looked out the front window. “Let’s go catch a now flake!” Running towards the door, Tony found himself scooped up before reaching his destination. Just as he was about to cry out in irritation, a stocking hat was placed on his head, boots on his feet.

“Ready for your coat and mittens?” Jack questioned with a spark in her eye. “I haven’t caught a snowflake in years, I am so excited!”

“You have to be careful,” Tony sighed. “They are very frag… frag… they are delicate.”

“Got it,” Jack winked. “Gibbs, Ducky, Jimmy, are you ready?”

“Let’s go!” Gibbs picked Tony up and headed out the door, a smile on his lips as he watched him take in the wonderment of winter.

“How many did you catch?” Gibbs asked Tony ask he moved him from his shoulders to his hip. “I got three.”

“I gotted five whole snowflakes!” Tony clapped. “Is it going to be a big snow?”

“I hope so,” Gibbs nodded. “Snow angels, a snow man, snowball fights! We need snow!”

“Do the snowman dance!” Tony wiggled down and started to twerk and twist, a magical dance in his child thinking brain.   
Shrugging, Jack joined Tony in the twist, peels of laughter coming from the little boy. “This is so much fun! I think it’s working!”

“Me too!” Tony gasped. “Keep going!”

Gibbs stood aside, his mind wandering to a day so long ago when Kelly and Maddie stood in the front yard doing a rain dance to fill a small swimming pool they had acquired. 

“Dr. Mallard,” Jimmy watched as his mentor took in the carefree behavior of their friend. “Are you okay, doctor?”

“I am perfect, Jimmy. Watch that boy, he’s finally found some joy. That makes my heart happy, very happy. Maybe this wish… maybe it was for more than just Anthony. We seem to be missing something in our lives, maybe this was to remind us that we are so busy and so complicated…”

“That sometimes, we need to stop to just dance,” Palmer whispered. “Dance like nobody is watching, live like it’s heaven on earth. That sound, his laughter, is heaven.”

.


End file.
